Satan's Schemes

By Lee Simmons

I went to college in the late 1960s, and it was just at the time when the Viet Nam war was really escalating. For four years I had a college deferment. The kids I went to high school with went into the service, and they didn't go to college; but many of us had a college deferment. Then just about the time that the deferment was ready to run out because I was going to graduate from college, there was instituted a system called the lottery in which everyone was given a number by way of their birthday. Low numbers got drafted first. High numbers got drafted later. And if you got a high enough number you didn't get drafted at all.

Well, I had one of those high numbers, and I never got drafted; but friends of mine and family members of mine all went to serve overseas in Viet Nam. I'll never forget hearing many of the stories that came back from that particular war. One of the things I heard over and over again was that you always had to be on guard as in any warfare. Obviously, out in the jungle you always knew that you were under attack. Even though you didn't see the enemy, you knew the enemy was out there somewhere; and you always had to be ready for the attack. But it wasn't just out in the jungle.

I had a cousin who was sitting in the mess hall eating and a little child walked up, a cute little child. They gave candy to this little child and all of a sudden, this little child walked away and there was an explosion. That little child carried a hand grenade and threw it under the table and a number of my cousin's friends were blown to bits.

Another time, I had a friend who was going into the village. People were there and this old man was riding down into the village on a bicycle. Little did they know, he was covered with explosives. He blew himself up and many of the people as well as those who part of that group of soldiers.

Men said they had to go to the bathroom with their rifles, and they had to sleep with their rifles. They never knew where the enemy was. They never knew how the enemy was going to attack. They just knew that he was out there somewhere, and sooner or later they would be under attack and their life would be in danger.

Now it's the same way with the Christian life. There is an unseen enemy out there. Jesus said Satan has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. We have an enemy. And the Bible says we must be aware of his schemes. Take your Bible and look at Ephesians 6. You'll notice that this passage talks about the whole armor of God and taking our stand against the enemy. The devil is out to scheme against us. Look at Ephesians 6:10 "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God." Now why are we to have that armor of protection on? "so that [we] can take our stand against the devil's schemes."

This word "scheme" in the Greek is "methodea" and we get our word "methods" from it. Always be alert to the devil's methods. It could also be translated as his "trickery". Or it also means "to lie in wait". He's lying in wait and his sole purpose is to destroy us. He's out to destroy our testimony, destroy our lives as Christians; and he has many secret and subtle ways to do it.

Many times we face the new year thinking of new year's resolutions. "Well, I'm going to do this." And oftentimes the resolutions are spiritual ones. "I'm going to read the Bible every day." That's a good resolution. "I'm going to pray and set aside a period of time." And that's a good resolution. "I'm going to be faithful in the services of the church. I'm going to serve God in this particular area." Those are all good commitments to make. But another good one is that we be much more aware of the devil's schemes. He is out to get us and he is on the offensive. I Peter 5:8 says, "The devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." He is on the offensive. He is looking for those to devour. So we have to then be aware of his schemes.

Now throughout the Scriptures, we find good people, godly people, God's people who got sucked in and who fell because of the schemes of the wicked one. If we look at them and look at their lives, we can better understand the wiles of the wicked one. Every soldier needs to know their enemy--where their enemy is, how they're going to attack, the devices of the enemy--lest they get sucked in and destroyed by him. And as Christians we must do the same thing. It's not a question that he may attack. It's not a question of when he will attack. But he will! Therefore, the Bible says we need to stand against his schemes. We need to be much better aware of the ways he wants to come to destroy our spiritual lives.

Now one of the first ways he will attack us is the very first way he attacked in the Bible. Turn to the first book of the Bible, the third chapter, to Genesis 3. We find out how the enemy causes sin to come in the first place. This scheme of the enemy is to get people to doubt the Word of God, to question the authority of the Word of God. You see, God says His Word is settled forever. The Bible says the Law of the Lord is perfect. But the enemy can get us to doubt this Book, to question this Book, to say "well I know what the Bible says, but..." And that's exactly what happened in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3.

"The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman," look carefully! "did God really say" Oh, does the Bible really say that? Did God really say that? Well it doesn't really mean that, does it? "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?' The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but God did say, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die."" Now Eve was wrong. God just said don't eat it. Eve actually added to the Word of God by saying we can't even touch that.

But I want you to note the enemy's response to her. Verse 4: "You will not surely die." In other words, the devil is calling God a liar. "The serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God" appealing to her pride "knowing good and evil." Look at verse 6: "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband." You see how subtly the enemy would work? "Hey Eve, did God really say that? Eve, God doesn't want you to do this because it would give you wisdom!"

And then the Bible says that Eve looked at it and it looked good and pleasing. All forbidden fruit looks that way. The forbidden fruit the enemy has out there all looks good and pleasing. It looks like it's going to be good for us, it's going to be wonderful for us, and the enemy got Eve to doubt the Word of God. One of the ways the enemy's going to come through and try to lure you and me away from the Lord is to take Scripture and to compromise it just a little bit, question it just a little bit. And so many times you'll hear people say, "well I know what the Bible says but..." If that's you, you're leaving a place for the enemy to come in like a flood and hold thalain and clear "thus saith the Lord". And you and I have to always be on our guard to say "I am going to do what God says." Period.

Whenever any issue or any question, any situation comes up, you and I must first ask, "What does God say?" And He says, this is the way. Walk ye in it. No matter what I hear elsewhere, no matter what anybody else says I will stand on the Word of God. Period. And when you do that, you defeat the enemy. That's why the Bible says that the one weapon we have that's defensive is the sword of the Spirit. It's the Word of God. That sword will defeat the wiles of the enemy. So we have to always be aware that the enemy is scheming to get us compromising on what God has said.

Now the second way we see the enemy trying to attack us is in pride in the work of God. Turn, if you would, to I Chronicles 21. I want you to see how subtle the enemy is in his temptation. He's dealing with King David. The Bible calls him "a man after God's own heart". When he failed and fell into the sin of adultery earlier in his life he confessed it, he repented of it, he paid for the consequences of that. Now it is later in his life and he wants to do something that sounds like it's okay to do. It doesn't sound like a deep and terrible sin. It's just taking a census of the people. But it wasn't what he did in I Chronicles 21. It was the motivation he had.

Look at verse 1: "Satan rose up against Israel." How did Satan want to attack God's people? He came to God's leader "and incited David to take a census of Israel." Now there's nothing wrong with counting heads. The book of Numbers counts the children of Israel, their fighting men, both in the beginning and in the end of the book. In the book of Acts they record the number of people who were converted. It wasn't the counting that was wrong, it was David's motivation for the census that was wrong. It was that of spiritual pride.

Verse 2: " So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops," Satan has incited him to count the people and we'll find out why in a moment, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan." That's from the furthest north to the furthest south. "Then report back to me." Now why does David want to know how many people are in the land? "So that I may know how many there are." There's the old "I" problem. Notice that "pride" has in the middle of it the letter I. (By the way, so does "sin".) It's always the "I" problem.

Now Joab, who was not known for his spirituality, in fact quite a ruthless man, gave some good advice. Sometimes even out of the lips of the wicked can come God's plan. Verse 3: "But Joab replied, 'May the Lord multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?'" Joab knew that David's motivation was wrong. David, for his own sense of spiritual pride, incited by Satan, wanted to count the number of people in the land so he would know. It says, "so I may know". There was this pride thing. "Wow! Look how big this nation is that I rule. Look how many people are under me. We conquered this nation. We conquered that nation. Our kingdom has expanded there. I wonder how many people are here?" And David's sin of spiritual pride was the sin of comparison. He wanted to see how much had happened. You see, if the enemy can't get to us through pride, he'll get to us through spiritual pride.

I've often watched this happen in new Christians. Someone comes to Jesus and they're so on fire for God. Whenever you say something like "read the Bible", they do it. "Pray", do it. "Memorize scripture", they memorize chapters of Scripture and they go out soul winning. They're always at the services and they're doing everything. I remember a young man coming to me who just came to Christ out of a life of drugs and alcohol and all kinds of things. He got converted and on fire for God and he was full of zeal. One day he said to me these words: "Boy, I'll tell you what. I look at my life and I look at these people who've been believers for ten and twenty years and I'm far ahead of them. Man, I know more Scriptures. I know more of the Bible. I've won more people to Christ." And I tried to counsel him about this thing of spiritual pride. But he didn't listen and he fell right to the bottom.

The enemy wants us to try to compare our lives to other people. "Oh, well look where you're at spiritually! Look where you've come! Look at those people over there! You've passed that a long time ago!" The enemy wants us to compare ourselves to others to see where we are spiritually, to take an accounting of ourselves, so that the enemy can come in and deal right with that spiritual pride. Spiritual or unspiritual pride is still pride and the Bible says God hates pride. So if we begin to compare ourselves with others, we begin to want to count up and take an inventory and say "wow, look what I can do", that is a lie from the pit.

The Bible never tells us to compare ourselves to anybody but Jesus. So if you want to check things out, look at the life of Jesus then look at yourself and press toward the mark. Be aware of the enemy trying to bring in comparisons between you and somebody else. That's a tool and a trick of the enemy. Only look at yourself and Jesus. If you're dealing in your mind, "oh but look at that person and look at that person, and look at me. I'm this and I'm that," you have fallen right into the trap of the enemy. Repent of that sin and say, "God I'm going to look to You. I'm not going to look at anybody else but only at You." That's the second way that the enemy will come in to us.

The third way is found in Acts 5. I want you to notice how quickly you can fall into the trap of the enemy. You could be a good person. You could be a godly person. You could do a very good thing and then find it's a way for the enemy to say, "I'm going to cool things down here." You can fall just like that by doing good, by serving God, by being zealous for God; and if you're not aware of it, the enemy can take that thing and destroy you in the process.

This is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. We read several weeks ago about Barnabas and those in the early church who sold their houses. Can you imagine? They sold their properties, and they gave the money for the work of God for the poor people in Jerusalem. All these people kept bringing the money and here's another couple who say, "Hey we have a piece of property. We'll sell it. We'll give it to the Lord." You talk about a spirit of sacrifice? Well here it was!

Chapter 5:1 says, "Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart?" Do you see that? Here is this couple and everybody else is giving money so they say "let's sell our property and give it" and in the process, the enemy says "boy, I'm going to pull a number on them."

Ananias and Sapphira both agreed they were going to keep back some of the money for themselves. Now there was nothing wrong with them only giving a part of the money in selling the property. That wasn't a sin. Peter goes on to explain that. They could've given a dollar of it, and if it was from their hearts and sincere, that would have been okay. Or ten percent. Or twenty percent. But they conspired to deceive the church by making them think they were giving it all. You see how Satan came in? Although they were doing a good thing, they wanted to make it look like a better thing.

Look what Peter said again in verse 3 "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart?" Here they are, a couple. They're believers. They're doing something very generous. They're following the pattern of the others, and then Satan comes in like a flood and says "look it, just keep a little bit of the money. You've got a bunch of bills to pay. Don't let anybody know that this wasn't the full amount of the price. Everybody will say, 'Oh Ananias you're so fine. You're so generous. You sold your land. You gave it all.' Isn't that wonderful?" This is the wile of the enemy: to deceive God's people.

Do you ever meet people who are almost so syrupy spiritual all they ever do is talk about their spirituality? "Oh, I do this for God. I serve God here and I do this and I do that." All they ever do is talk about themselves. By the way right there is a warning, because the Bible says "let another man praise you and not your own lips." It's not what you say, it's the testimony of your life. Or you find people who always want to pump themselves up and be something that they aren't. That is deceptive. Oh, we'll do something good. We'll serve God in this area and we'll serve God in that area. But as we retell the story, we bring our little embellishments to it. In the end, we're deceptive. And Satan can come in and boom! The Bible says let your yes be yes and your no be no.

We've all heard the joke about the evangelistic estimates that turn hundreds into thousands. How many men and women of God have fallen because they've inflated the work of God and they have fallen right into the pit? Over and over and over again. The enemy wants to come in. He'll take something that we do that's good. We want to pump it up and make it look better, and Satan comes right in.

I know this verse messes up some of your theology but just take the verse for what it says. Satan entered his heart. Now God's judgment was swift and sure for Ananias and Sapphira. They dropped over dead. If God was doing that today, we might all be in that predicament! Thank God for His mercy and grace! Amen? Some of us say, "Oh why is God allowing this to happen to me? Oh, I can't believe what's happened to me." You could be just like Ananias and Sapphira. So thank God for His grace and mercy.

I want you to see another way that Satan will come. This was the sin of deception, but there's also a sin of not forgiving. Look at II Corinthians 2. Oh, this is one the enemy uses all the time. How many times do I hear people say, "But you don't understand what they've done! I just can't forgive them!" And when you can't or won't forgive, the enemy is having a hallelujah time; because that's just what he wants to happen is to have a seed of bitterness grow in you and destroy you.

Now in the church of Corinth there was someone involved in a sin. They were disciplined and they brought much grief to the church. We read about that in II Corinthians 2:5. "If anyone has caused grief he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent." In other words, he said this guy--because of his sin and the blatantness of his sin in the church and the discipline it had to ensure in this particular life--has been a grief. He has been a pain to you. He has caused the church, and you and me, much hurt.

Now can I say this to all of us? There will always be someone who will hurt us. I can promise you this next year that you're going to face someone who will say something or do something, or you'll think they said or did something, or they didn't jump through the hoops just like you wanted them to, and you will get hurt. It's not the fact that we get hurt, it's how we handle our hurts.

Look at the apostle Paul's admonition to the church in verse 10. "If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven." Now why did Paul say "if there was anything to forgive"? Maybe he was just thinking "I thought I forgave; but, just in case, I want to make sure. I'm going to forgive." Why was it necessary to be forgiving of this sinning brother who hurt them? He said, "I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake." Why? Verse 11: "In order that Satan might not outwit us."

You know that Satan wants to outwit you and me? He wants you to have a hurt that you can't forgive. You have a right to be upset and you're going to demand an apology and you're going to stand until they come groveling back to you. Then you're going to hold out forgiveness like a bone to a hungry dog. That's not what God wants. If you don't forgive, then you've just been outwitted by the enemy and you're right in his camp.

So the apostle Paul says, "We're going to forgive so that Satan..." and I want to make sure I forgive! "...so that Satan doesn't outwit us." Then he says, "We are not unaware of his schemes." If you're aware of the enemy's schemes, then you will know that one of the things the enemy wants to do to destroy you is to have a hurt that's so bad you're not going to forgive. That hurt is going to come and you're going to have that root of bitterness grow. And the Bible says it'll destroy you.

You see, bitterness is an acid that does more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to the vessel into which it's to be poured. It always destroys you. It's a trick of the enemy. You watch someone who's carrying that hurt and you look at their face and you listen to them talk. There's something about them. The enemy's got such a hold and an unforgiving spirit. You want to defeat the enemy? Well, just forgive. The way to do that is right now promise before God that it doesn't matter what happens to you or what you go through. "God teach me the spirit of forgiveness, that I will forgive as You did when they were crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ." They spit in His face. They plucked out His beard. They buffetted him. And He said, "Father forgive them. For they don't know what they do."

If you're harboring a hurt right now and you've not forgiven, you've been outwitted by the enemy. He has a major victory and when you forgive, you resist him and the Bible says he'll flee. We must forgive or we're outwitted by the enemy. And you'll notice that it destroys us. If someone does something, that bitterness destroys us.

Sometimes it happens at the least likely time. On Christmas morning I wanted to call up a family member, wish them a wonderful Christmas, and see how they were. I picked up the phone. Christmas morning! A wonderful time with the family! I called up a family member out of state and said, "Merry Christmas! How's your Christmas?" On the other end the family member said, "Well, not very good because I didn't get a gift from you." I said, "We mailed it. We sent it a couple weeks ago." And there was just ice.

I hung up the phone and I didn't realize it, but all day I harbored that hurt. And you know how it manifested itself? That evening I blew up at my wife. Then I realized I had fallen right into the trap. "God, that hurt. God, I'm going to forgive. My family is not going to take the manifestation of this hurt." Christmas day! You'd think the devil would relax on Christmas! (Probably works overtime on special days! He calls out everybody--all the demonic forces!) We've got to learn how to forgive.

In II Corinthians 11, the enemy has double agents. Did you know that? That is, they look like they're working for God. They look like God's servants. They talk like God's servants, but they're not God's servants. They're servants of the enemy. Jesus warned us in Matthew 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. He said to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. They look like a sheep. They sound like a sheep. They act like a sheep; but inside, Jesus said, they are wolves. The apostle Paul in II Corinthians 11 is now talking about those who were leading the people in God's church astray. He says you've got to watch out for these people.

Look at verse 13: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ." They wear the mask of an apostle. They look like an apostle. They sound like an apostle. He said how could it be? How could you look like the real thing and sound like the real thing and not be the real thing? Verse 14: "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."

How is the enemy going to destroy a group of believers? How is he going to come in? He's going to infiltrate the ranks with a false plan of someone who looks so good and sounds so good, but they're not. You see our biggest problem with this is--and this is how we're deceived, listen carefully--we always look at giftedness.

We've had evangelists come here to town. Many years ago there was W. W. Grant or somebody like that. He'd come in with these great big healing crusades and he'd take up these big offerings and all these people claimed healing. Later it was found out that he was a charlatan. He manufactured the whole thing. But people saw the supposed healing miracles. They gave all their money and said, "Oh, he's such a wonderful man." But it's not the giftedness. You always look at the fruit.

Jesus said of false prophets: "It's by their fruit you know them." And they said, "Well, didn't we prophecy in Your Name? Didn't we do great miracles in Your Name?" And Jesus said, "I never knew you. Depart from Me." The test of a true servant of God is never giftedness. It's always fruitfulness. Jesus said "by their fruit you will know them." The enemy wants to bring in plants that look so wonderful and so good and that lead people right down the tube.

As evil and wicked as David Koresh was, he led all those people into that towering inferno in Waco, Texas. And the enemy has plants that are a little more subtle all over the place. We have to be aware that we might start following someone who sounds good and looks good and talks good and has all the giftings; but we've got to look at their fruit. Be aware that the enemy is going to try to destroy and lead people astray all in the name of Jesus, all with spiritual language, all with spiritual power, but not with spiritual fruit.

Now the sixth one (and I have six because that's the devil's number) that he'll want to use is found in I Corinthians 7. This is the attack in the sexual relationship area. You say, "Pastor, you can't talk about this in church! This is supposed to be a spiritual place!" Well, you're not going to hear this from Oprah or Phil. You're not going to read about it in People magazine. It's not going to be in any university classes. One of the ways the enemy wants to come in is in this area of the human sexual relationship.

Look at Paul's counsel to the church in I Corinthians 7: "Now for the matters you wrote me about: It is good for a man not to marry." A lot of guys say, "Now you tell me!" What the apostle Paul is saying here is--and he explains it later--if you can be single for the sake of the gospel, that's wonderful; because if you don't have the responsibilities of the family, you can serve the Lord without that thing. But he says, most folks can't do that. Most people don't have the gift of celibacy. And so he says in verse 2 "But since there is so much immorality," (nothing has changed, has it!) "each man should have his own wife and each woman should have her own husband." What he's saying is this: God's plan for the sexual relationship is a monogamous heterosexual relationship--that people will save themselves before marriage, and they'll be wholly committed to themselves alone in marriage.

I want you to notice how the devil always flip flops things around. There is so much immorality. There is so much passion. There is so much lust. But God's plan is not for people to be sleeping together before marriage, it's not living together--which is a lie of the devil--it's waiting! The sexual drive is only righteously satisfied in the bounds of marriage.

You hear that kids? You're not going to hear that from Planned Parenthood when they come to your school. You're not going to hear that in the music. You're not going to hear that on the t.v. shows. Did you ever notice, by the way, on t.v. that almost any time you ever see any couple, either in bed or hinting about being in bed... (By the way if that's on your t.v. you ought never to watch it because it's planting in your mind seeds that are wrong)...almost all of that--95% of that--are all among couples that are not married. Don't expose youself to the immoral lies of the enemy.

But I want you to notice that Paul says this problem is righteously satisfied in marriage. You see, the devil wants to get people together in hot passion before marriage. This lie is among even Christians. They say, "Once we've slept together that means we're married in God's eyes." Baloney! Marriage is a public proclamation before God and before man, a sacred vow of commitment "until death do us part". I often say to those people who say, "Well, you know we're married in God's eyes" I say to them, "Well, how do you get divorced in God's eyes? This is the fourth time around for you!"

Young people, that's a lie out of the pit. What the devil wants to do is he wants to get you in bed before you're married; and then once you get married, he wants to separate you. Cause now look at the counsel Paul gives to those who are married. Isn't this incredible? The passions that Satan so arouses before marriage he so cools down after marriage. He always flip flops things around, doesn't he.

So all of a sudden Paul's talking to people who are married now. The people that he said "because of the immorality you need to be married" he now says to the married in verse 3 "the husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife and likewise the wife to her husband". Now it's a duty?? "The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife." And then it says in verse 5 "Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time so that you may devote yourself to prayer." The only time to separate yourselves scripturally is for prayer and fasting.

But then he says this. Look at it very carefully. "Then come together again" Why? "So that Satan will not tempt you." Now see, the enemy's goal is this: to get people sexually immoral before marriage, then to keep them apart during marriage, and then have someone else lure them away in the bed of adultery. So the apostle Paul says fulfill your marital duty. Why? Lest Satan come and tempt you.

So many people use sex as a weapon, and sex as a punishment just brings the devil in like a flood. I spoke a number of years ago to a particular couple. They came because the woman was so upset that this man had gotten some pornographic videos. Now that is wrong, and he admitted it was wrong. But she had refused herself over and over again and the lust got the best of him. So he went to the store and got the pornographic movies to try to fulfill something in another way that was wrong. She found the movies and then she resisted and refused even more and there was just a terrible mess. I believe this day that couple is divorced. I'm not sure.

So you see, the enemy wants us. In fact, I've heard people say to me, "I can't believe it. Before we were married, we were so great and now there is nothing." Sure! It's the devil's way! He wants to keep married people apart. He wants to get unmarried people in a bed of immorality. He wants to lure a married person to say, "Well I don't love that person anymore, but that person looks a lot better!" There is no greener grass! It may look good, but it's not. All Satan's apples have worms.

Now here are six ways (there are many others, but the Scripture points these out) the enemy wants to come in and get us. Some are so subtle. Let's just count the people. I mean, I want to see how I stack up against the others. Or, well, just a little compromise in the Word of God. God will understand this. He knows what's going on in my heart. Yeah, and that's why He said what He said in the Word and why He said that it's wrong. So you wake up and listen to the Word! Or doing something good but then the enemy comes in and there's a deception to make it look better than it is. He's out to steal, to kill, and to destroy. We have to always be alert to the ways he will scheme against us.

In Cinncinati, Ohio there's a place called King's Island. It's a large amusement park. Part of the park is called the Wild African Safari where you take a monorail and go through a place they've made like a jungle area. And all the animals of the jungle are in there in various areas. One part you can go into and there are the tigers kind of lying in the trees. In another place there's a lion's den with lions and it's really a neat thing. Many years ago I went through that. But a number of years ago, I read an account in the newspaper where a zookeeper was killed by a lion.

Now, all the zookeepers drove around in jeeps with a big cage around them so they were protected. But, and this was a true story right in the newspaper, (of course that doesn't make it true, but I believe this one is) a zookeeper was driving through in his jeep and he just had to relieve himself. So, I'm sure, he looked around. (He didn't live to tell the story.) He got out of his jeep just so quickly and was pounced upon by a lion, and he was devoured. He let his guard down just so quickly. That's why the Bible says always be alert of the wiles of the wicked one.

And by the way, many times we think when we flirt with the enemy and nothing happens that everything is okay. "Hey, no fire fell from heaven on this one! I've got my health! Hey, God mustn't care. This must be okay." And we get so close to the enemy again and again we think, well it msut be okay. But it's not that way. Several months ago I bought my son a pet. An unusual one. He loves reptiles. So we bought him a lizard. I bought him a lizard. An aquarium and a cage and a cute little lizard. A nice little collared lizard. And we have to feed him crickets twice a week. You go to the pet store and you buy a dozen crickets. And you've got to give your little lizard vitamins. So you put some powder on the crickets and you shake them in a bag and then when the lizard eats the crickets he gets his vitamins. Pretty neat, huh?

Well I like feeding time. (Beats t.v.) But you know, I found out that you get the crickets and you get them all covered with the nice little vitamins and you put them in there and he looks at them all and he doesn't move. You think, "It's feeding time! You haven't eaten in days! Give me a little show here!" But he just sits there and then he'll close his eyes! He won't start to crawl over them. And I'm thinking, "Food's on the table, fella! You know? Nice fresh meal!" And you sit and you watch and you watch and you watch. You want to see him gobble down these crickets.

And it's a very interesting thing. He'll close his eyes. He'll look like he doesn't care at all. Nothing's going on. And then one will just walk right under his nose. glup! And all you'll see is feet hanging out the mouth. Cricket's history. But isn't that the way the enemy works? We're just all around him and around his devices and "Hey, he doesn't care! Hey, I'm okay here! Everything's fine!" And then boom, he's got us. We're devoured. We're history. That's the way he works.

That's why the Bible says be alert, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He wants to devour us. But the Bible says stand against him with the full armor of God. James 4:17 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you. When we stand on the Word of God and the principles of God and say "I don't care what they think, I don't care what anybody else says, I'm going to stand and follow God's Word. Period.", we put him on the run. It's the beginning of a new year. Some of us have been sucked in this last year. Some of us can say, oh that's what happened to me. Some of us can say now "I know where I'm at." Now let's be alert. Be vigilant. Cause he's seeking to devour. But when we submit ourselves to God and resist him, he's going to run. He's going to run.

Lord, many of us would look at the past and say we haven't made it, but You are more interested that we finish the race with faithfulness. Lord, we know we will stand before you some day and Lord to receive the crowns to cast at your feet. Oh what a joy. Lord we ask that you teach us to faithful and help us to surrender our stubbornness, our will and our all to you. Let your word be at work in us. Do your mighty work in us Father...we ask it in Jesus name.

It is the believer that will stand before Christ to receive the rewards, but if you have not yet invited Jesus into your life to be your Lord and Savior, then you will appear before a different throne to be judged. And everyone who's name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life was thrown into the Lake of Fire. If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life; but it can be by trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. If have never been saved and born again with a new Spirit, then you can be today. The Bible says that to as many who received Him, to those He gave them the power to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. If you are not sure of your salvation, then pray this simple prayer with me.

So I am going to pray a prayer of invitation to receive Jesus into your life. It is not like saying an "our Father" or like reading a prayer card, it is not the words that are significant but what it means. You are going to ask Jesus to save you from your sins, to come into your heart, to be the master of your life and to take you to heaven when you die. So if you are not sure of your salvation today, and the desire of your heart is for Jesus Christ to come into your life to be your Lord and Savior, make this your prayer. Dear Lord, I am a sinner. I confess my sins to you and right now ask you to forgive my every sin. I invite you right now into my life, to be my Lord and my Savior. Thank you for coming into my life. May never be the same again. Make me a new person in Jesus Christ for I thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Father we thank you. We thank you for the body and blood of Jesus and as we come around your table, help us to come with a heart cleansed by the blood of Christ, with an attitude of gratefulness and a desire to walk in the holiness you have called us to. We thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Some people give their all to their sports or their hobbies, yet those around them get nothing. Some of you know things are not right in your family because things like sports or hobbies are more important than your family. You need to give your all to God and your family. ==========================================================================

If you have prayed this prayer, please let us know by EMAIL or by correspondence. It would be a real blessing to us. And if you would like a cassette tape of this message, please send $3.00 to cover costs to: Faith Chapel 200 Gillespie Avenue Syracuse, N.Y. 13219 (315) 468-2745

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Maranatha

"Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

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"Prophecy and Current Events" is published bimonthly by: "To His Glory Ministries" Permission is hereby granted to copy and distribute for non-commercial purposes. Consider duplicating and distributing to friends, relatives, pastor or your church congregation. However, copying for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited. Copyright 1998, To His Glory Ministries, All Rights Reserved. We value your comments and encouragment. Please forward them to us.